Glass Slipper
by AudioAesthetic
Summary: Like all Tin Men, Cain is just looking for his heart. Eventual DG/Cain.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Glass Slipper  
Author: AudioAesthetic  
Rating: T – maybe more in later chapters  
Summary: Like all Tin Men, Cain is just looking for his heart.  
Author's Notes: First Tin Man fic. Hopefully you'll like it. Let me know what doesn't work. Thanks for reading!  
Audio

Chapter One

_Right on the verge, just one more dose,  
I'm travelling from coast to coast.  
My theory isn't perfect, but it's close._

_I'm almost there, why should I care?  
My heart is hurting when I share  
Someone open up and let it show._

_My, what a good day for a walk outside..._

When Cain rested, he didn't like his thoughts. They wandered to the past, to his wife. It wasn't the pleasant things, the ones that made him fall in love with her, that he thought of. Not her smile, or her strength, or her beautiful kindness, but the irritating things, like the way her fingernails were always dirty, no matter how many times she washed them, or how she'd stomp out of the room when she was angry and not say a word to him for hours. She never bloody told him what was wrong, either. He had to spend hours trying to figure it out.

He would give _anything_ to have those hours back, to hear her slam the doors of their cottage again, to stare at those grimy fingers. He would give anything for the past.

And yet, when Cain looked to the future, it was a complete blank. What would he do? He couldn't go back to their cottage. He couldn't build a life with Jeb, who was old enough now to be getting married and having his own life. Would he stay in the palace? He hadn't been offered a place, but he couldn't see DG and her grateful parents denying him a home there. Would he go back to being a Tin Man, back to his regular, law-enforcing lifestyle, as if nothing had happened?

He didn't like to think about it, so he didn't. He never stood still. There was always something to be done in the O.Z. now. First, there was tending to the wounded in the Battle of the Eclipse, and then retrieving Zero from his prison. He travelled to the East with Jeb and a small company to round up any leftover Longcoats and spread the news of Azkadellia's redemption. He helped rebuild towns and villages. He spent months doing the work of ten men, because anyone else would have had to take a rest sometimes. But he _couldn't_ rest. He wouldn't let himself.

Cain would return to the palace with his small company of men and find DG and Glitch waiting for him. Raw had returned with his people to help rebuild the raided Viewer colonies. DG would hug him profusely and Glitch – who wasn't any less annoyingly optimistic now that his brain was back in his head – would dole out a new mission. Cain only stayed in one place for as long as he had to.

"We missed you," DG would always say, like a child waiting for her father to come home from a long day in the fields. _We_ missed you, never _I_ missed you. Cain didn't know why it bothered him, but it did. Maybe, after all they'd been through, the four of them would always be a part of a whole, now.

He slept, when at the palace, in the noble's quarters, which was odd for him. Any luxury was odd, and the only one he wanted was the luxury of being close to his son. And to have his wife back. But he wouldn't think of that.

Life was hazy, but it was better than the pain being clear.

In Harvest Month, Cain had lead Jeb to the East, where the Massifs, a clan of mountain dwelling people had hidden themselves in caves for the war. They were one of the last clans to hear of witch's defeat, and being timid, it had taken a while to coax them from their caves and to their ruined villages, and then a while longer to get them to allow Cain's men to help rebuild. It was almost as if they'd rather live in squalor and be left alone than in their own homes and accept help.

But they had done it, and the largest village, Summit, was finally inhabitable. Cain stood on the roof he had just finished patching and surveyed the surroundings. The next day they would move out for the palace.

"Captain!" Cain peered over the edge to the street where Hillel, a young, former resistance fighter, stood calling for him. "A messenger from the palace is approaching!"

_Good timing_, Cain thought as he climbed down from the roof. They often sent him messages right as he was finishing up a project that told him of another. As much as he told himself he didn't like being kept away from DG and the royal family, he felt a distinct sense of relief when he didn't have to stand still for any amount of time.

"They come on horseback," Hillel explained, "and will be here within fifteen minutes."

"Well done, soldier," Cain said absently, walking towards his tent. He would clean up to meet the messengers. DG worried if she got a report of him looking less than his best. "Send them to me when they arrive."

In his tent he washed his face and hands, carefully not thinking about fingernails. He changed swiftly from his work clothes to his Captain's uniform, which was starched and uncomfortable and which he only wore when he had to. As he was pulling on his second boot he heard horses approaching and Scamp, another young fighter, ducked his head in. "The messengers request an audience with the Captain that they say is of utmost importance, sir."

_Odd_. "Send them in."

Scamp disappeared and was replaced by a familiar figure who grinned upon seeing Cain standing in his uniform.

"You certainly look different without your hat," Glitch joked and Cain grasped his hand in a firm shake.

"Good to see you, too, Glitch," he greeted, already feeling strangely at ease. It got that way with the four of them. Having been through what they had, no one else really provided as much relief as the others. Sometimes he forgot how uncomfortable other people made him until he was around someone who fit.

"What brings you? The Queen doesn't usually send her Advisor to deliver messages." Cain instantly stiffened. "There hasn't been an uprising, has there?"

"No, no, nothing like that," Glitch said. "I'm here for an important but hopefully pleasant reason." He cleared his throat and drew himself up importantly. "As High Advisor to Queen Lavender of the House of Gale, it is my duty and great pleasure to cordially invite Captain Wyatt Ca-"

"Glitch. If you don't stop that formal bullshit, I'll tear that zipper right off your head," Cain ordered. "It's bad enough I've got my troops referring to me in third person constantly and saluting all the time, I don't need it from you, too."

"Sorry..." Glitch fumbled around rather awkwardly. "I just get caught up sometimes. Turns out there are just as much glitches with having your brain reattached as not having it at all. It's hard to get everything... sorted out."

Nobody said the aftermath was going to be easy for any of them, but Cain hadn't bothered to noticed how confused his friend must have been, having to reacquaint two sides of his brain with each other all over again. "It's all right," Cain said, more gently. "Just... tell me what I'm invited to."

"DG's coming out ceremony." Cain raised an eyebrow in surprise. "She'll be twenty-one, which is much older than most girls when they're first presented to society, but she never really... had that chance before..."

"I guess not." Cain hadn't really thought about it. DG was less a princess than an overly exuberant child. It was strange that she was not only old enough to "be presented," but also much older than normal girls were at that time.

The thought of DG as a woman was a strange one indeed, and made him think of Adora, when he'd first met her at seventeen – not quite a woman, but certainly not the child that DG was. Adora had always been grown up.

Glitch was eying him with amusement. "The Queen wanted to make sure that I mention that your _son_ is invited as well."

"Jeb?" Cain couldn't see his son in that sort of setting. He was a farmboy and a fighter, but certainly not a nobleman. "I'm not sure he'll want to go."

Glitch raised his eyebrows conspiratorially. "I think he'll enjoy himself. After all, he and the Princess are about the same age..."

Cain glanced at him sharply and turned to a table to pour a glass of wine. "You're thinking of matching them?"

The thought made him queasy. Both of them were too young to get married, and DG... DG wasn't right for Jeb... was she? She certainly did bring out the kindness in people, something Jeb had trouble with. And Jeb would protect her, which is what she needed... But still, it seemed so... _off_. Could Jeb really ever understand DG? Could she ever really understand Jeb?

"I believe the Queen wishes to reward your services in some way, by giving your family noble status," Glitch explained. "And you have to admit, it would be interesting to see how it played out. Why, I remember in my courting days. There was this schoolgirl lass named Leona, who – "

"I just don't think Jeb wants to settle down yet. And what if that's not what DG wants?"

"Well, I don't think anyone could _force_ DG to do anything. Even the Queen. But we could certainly work the situation to... help them along." Cain downed the glass of wine like a shot. Glitch stepped closer, but Cain didn't look at him. He needed to think... "Cain, if this isn't something you want, you can just say so."

"It's... not something that I _don't _want," Cain said slowly. He closed his eyes and unbidden into his head came Adora. She would know if the time was right to even think about this... "It's just another change, that's all."

"I understand," said Glitch, and even though Glitch had no children, no wife, no family to think about, Cain believed him. He was one of three people Cain ever believed when they said they understood. Still, it was hard to imagine Glitch understanding when Cain himself didn't even really understand.

"We're almost done with this village," Cain replied. "We'll leave tomorrow at dawn for the palace."

"Excellent." Glitch beamed at him. "Now that's out of the way, why don't you share some of that wine? There's much to tell you about the rest of the kingdom, and I have a better memory when I'm..."

"Drunk?" Cain offered, handing him a glass.

"_Slightly inebriated._" Glitch sipped from the wine, sighed happily and settled into a chair. "But... well... maybe drunk."

Cain smiled grimly. It was good, he realized, to have a friend serve as a distraction instead of work. Work wouldn't get drunk with him, after all.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thanks for the reviews, guys! This is my first Tin Man fanfic, so I'm glad you like it. I've already got a lot more chapters written, and there's a lot I would change. Just gotta get into the swing of the fandom first. I'm hoping it improves as the chapters go on. Here's chapter two!

Audio

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Chapter Two

_The world's a roller coaster  
And I am not strapped in.  
Maybe I should hold with care,  
But my hands are busy in the air saying:_  
"_I wish you were here."_

"I look _ridiculous_," Jeb complained from in front of the mirror. He tugged at his starched collar awkwardly, pulled at his gloves, and curled his toes in his boots. Cain allowed himself a half smile.

"You look like a soldier," he said.

"I prefer my old uniform," Jeb grumbled.

"What uniform?"

"Exactly."

Cain chuckled under his breath as he adjusted his own uniform in the mirror over Jeb's shoulder. Cain also felt uncomfortable in his uniform, but he wouldn't let his son see that. He tipped his chin up and breathed slowly in what he hoped was a regal manner, feeling stronger as he watched himself and his son become something other than what they had been.

He also noticed that Jeb had his mother's ears, but he pushed the thought away.

"Father?" Jeb turned away from the mirror to face Cain. "Why am I going to this... this ceremony?"

"Because the Queen invited you, in short." Cain had been tiptoeing around this conversation since they'd started off from Summit.

"Yes, but _why_ did she invite me? I'm just a soldier."

"I assume it's because you're my son," Cain said gruffly, choosing now to step away and strap his saber to his belt, telling himself that it wasn't so he didn't have to look at his son.

"It just feels... like it's something different than that, is all."

Cain held back a sigh and made his face blank as he looked at his son. "It's only what you want it to be, boy," he said, hoping that was vague enough to make his son realize this was a futile conversation. Whether it worked or not, Cain would never know, because at that moment, there was a knock on the door. Cain answered.

"Her Majesty the Queen requests your audience as soon as possible," said the servant girl in a slightly flustered manner. She blushed as she looked over his shoulder at Jeb. "The, uh, the diplomats are arriving, and Her... Her Majesty wishes for you to... to help her greet them... sir."

Cain dismissed her, slightly amused. "What was that all about?" Jeb wanted to know.

With a half grin, Cain replied, "I believe she was taken aback by the handsome soldier in front of her."

"Oh, come off it," Jeb said, but he blushed as furiously as the servant girl had.

"I'll let you finish getting ready in peace," Cain laughed. "Don't be late."

Jeb rolled his eyes, and Cain, if he was being honest with himself, would have liked nothing more than to let Jeb off, to let himself off, and to skip the whole thing, but he had duties. That, and DG would kill him for making her go through this on her own.

He hadn't seen much of DG in the week since they'd been back. She'd been busy, said Azkadellia, who for some reason didn't approve of Cain seeing a lot of DG, with her preparations. He'd gotten his usual hug when he'd arrived, the usual _We missed you_, but then she was swept off to try on this dress or decide on these decorations. The palace was an empty place without her. He spent most of his time wandering the grounds, usually accompanied by Jeb or Glitch or both. He made sure he wasn't alone, but found himself being lonely anyway.

As he walked to the great hall where the diplomats and their families would be presented to the Queen, his footsteps echoed along the marble walls and floors. Alone.

When he passed a connected hallway, Princess Azkadellia turned into the corridor almost directly beside him. She drew herself up and nodded her head cordially. "Captain Cain," she said. She was capable of being perfectly civil to him, but it was always strained. There were times when Cain saw in her the woman who had kidnapped DG, who had stolen Glitch's brain, who had ordered his wife killed. It was hard to trust a face that had done so much, even when he knew the person hadn't.

"Princess," he said, with a half bow. "On my way to the hall."

"I see." She tightened her lips awkwardly. "Perhaps we should... accompany each other then."

"Perhaps." They walked side by side in silence, which annoyed Cain for some reason. It was bad enough she didn't like him, but to not even bother talking... She was nothing like DG. "Seen much of your sister lately?"

"She's been busy, I've told you." So, he wasn't the only one who was annoyed. _Well, too bad, Princess_. He stopped in front of her and turned to face her.

"Not that busy," Cain said. "The DG I know always makes time for her friends. Why've you been keeping me away from her?"

"I'll not be spoken to that way!"

"You'll be spoken to any damn way I choose to speak to you, kid. Right now, you're not a princess, you're just DG's sister, and I want answers."

"I know what you and my mother are planning, Captain, with your son and DG, and I don't like it," Azkadellia snapped. "I don't know _why_ I don't like it, but I don't like it."

Cain breathed a sigh of relief. At least he wasn't crazy. "Good. I'm not the only one."

The princess eyed him skeptically, and he continued, "I don't like it either, girlie."

"You don't?"

"Not a lick," Cain admitted with a grim smile. "But who knows? They might end up wanting just that. And if they want it..."

"She won't," Azkadellia said stubbornly. "She can't want that." Cain raised an eyebrow at her and she sighed almost pathetically – any resemblance to the Witch was gone with that. "I just got my sister back, Captain. I don't want her taken away again when I don't even... _know_ her yet."

Cain thought of Jeb, married and gone, and then thought of DG the same way, and stopped breathing from the unnaturalness of it all. They were, both of them, supposed to be with _him_. "Trust me, Princess. I know."

"What can we do?"

"Nothing, really," Cain admitted, though he didn't like it. "Just... let it happen the way it happens."

"That doesn't sound like the way DG describes you," Azkadellia said, flustered. "She said you were a take-charge kind of guy."

Cain looked the princess up and down. How much had DG told her about him? How much did DG even know about him? Maybe he wasn't the take-charge kind of guy DG thought he was. How was he supposed to take charge when he didn't have any idea what to do?

"I'm not _any_ kind of guy, Princess," he said, and began walking again, not bothering to look back and see if she followed him.

In the great hall there were already diplomats being announced. Cain slipped in silently, but the Queen's watchful eyes caught sight of him from her throne. She smiled at him, and King Ahamo nodded. Cain bowed slightly in answer.

"And this gentleman is Captain Wyatt Cain." Cain was dragged by the elbow into a group of three or four noblemen. Tutor smiled at him happily as he made his introductions. "Captain Cain, this is Lord and Lady Brinkley of the Northern Tribes and Goodrich Plenty, from the Orchard Dwellers of the Southwest."

"Pleasure," Cain said, hoping his self-consciousness didn't shine through spectacularly. He wished DG was there – she was so much better with people than he was.

"I had heard that your son was going to join us, Captain," said Lady Brinkley, her eyes twinkling as if she'd told a private joke. Cain almost rolled his eyes. Did _everyone_ know of the Queen's intentions?

"He'll be down in a minute, I hope. You know how boys can be before their first balls. All flustered about their dresses and shoes."

"Your... son is going to be wearing a dress?" repeated Goodrich Plenty, who was apparently an idiot.

Cain had to find Glitch before he drove himself crazy.

"If you'll excuse me," Cain muttered, glaring at Tutor for no reason other than that he was Tutor, and removed himself.

"Odd fellow," he heard Lord Brinkley say to his wife as he disappeared into the crowd.

Glitch was entertaining a group of younger gentlemen with a story about the lovely lass Leona – and hadn't noticed that none of them were listening to a word he said. Cain walked up and grabbed his elbow.

"Sorry to interrupt this... riveting story, but I need to borrow him, if you all don't mind," Cain said. The young men looked at him gratefully as he pulled a protesting Glitch away.

"I was just getting to the best part!" Glitch objected.

"And what part is that?"

Glitch stammered for a second and then cocked his head to the side. "Hmm. I don't remember."

"Good. How long do I have to stay at this blasted thing, Glitch?" Cain demanded. "When is DG going to show up to her own party?"

"Soon, Cain. You know, you really should learn to enjoy the things life presents to you. This is one of the loveliest parties I've ever been to. There's music and food and good people-"

"I don't like these people," Cain grumbled.

"You don't _know_ these people," Glitch pointed out. "And you don't like anybody."

Cain opened his mouth to protest, but was suddenly accosted from behind. Wrapped up in giant, furry arms, Cain struggled to get away, until a voice boomed into his ear. "Raw missed Cain!"

He was released and turned to see his friend attacking Glitch in much the same manner. Cain laughed at Raw's exuberance. He had forgotten how long it felt to be without him until he was there again.

"It's good to see you, too, old buddy," said Glitch in a strained voice, "but I can't breathe."

"Raw sorry." He set the pale little man on the ground and beamed at them. "Raw just excited."

"Yes, yes of course," said Glitch, rubbing his ribs and wincing. "We're excited to see you, too, Raw. How's everything in the Viewer colony?"

"Everything getting better. Villages rebuilt, and much food for all being harvested. Raw happy there."

Cain smiled. "Glad to hear it, friend."

Raw looked at him oddly with his head cocked to the side, eying him in a way that made Cain slightly uncomfortable. He _hated_ it when the big furball read his mind.

"Something upsetting Cain," he said softly. "Why Cain upset?"

Glitch instantly dawned a worried crease in his brow. "Things like this make me uncomfortable," Cain grumbled. "Nothing more than that."

"No, something upset Cain. Something Cain doesn't even understand. Something about – "

But whatever it was about, Cain didn't hear. Trumpets blared at the opposite end of the great hall and a small man at the top of the long staircase called regally to the congregated diplomats. "Presenting Princess Dorothy the Second, of the House of Gale."

Cain didn't know what he was expecting, but it wasn't this. He supposed DG had changed, been transformed into a beautiful princess due to etiquette lessons and polishing. He supposed she would be anything but what she was – still just DG.

She walked down the stairs with the same slightly awkward gait she'd always had, smiling brilliantly at everyone. She still had that childish aura about her movements, like she didn't quite understand the way her own limbs worked just yet. She was completely unaware of herself. Only the people around her were noticed, and they caused a complete, but not exactly regal smile on her brightly lit face. Though they had dressed her in a ruffled, blue dress and corset, and pulled her hair above her head, given her gloves and delicate shoes, she was still just... DG.

It was a relief to a worry Cain hadn't even known he'd had.

Although she was probably supposed to stand with her family – Azkadellia, Ahamo, and the Queen had gathered at the bottom of the stairs to recieve her – she spotted Raw's mane in the crowd and ran towards the three of them, launching herself as best she could in her princess get-up at the Viewer. To avoid making the princess look awkward, music began and people started to dance.

"Raw! Guys! Look at this, isn't it _wild_?" she said, pointing to her dress. "It doesn't even seem real, you know?"

"It's about as real as it gets, kid," Cain found himself saying. What the hell did that mean? It didn't seem real to him, either.

"Mother picked the dress," DG explained with a distasteful grimace. "She said it brought out my eyes."

"You look wonderful, DG," said Glitch.

"DG pretty," Raw agreed.

Glitch elbowed Cain in the side. "Uh... Yeah. Wonderful." Cain preferred her in the weird clothes she had slipped over in, the jeans and T-shirt, she'd called them. That T-shirt had brought her eyes out just fine, and it suited her better.

"DG," the Queen said, setting a gentle hand on her daughter's shoulder. "I think it's time for you to dance. Why don't you ask Cain's son? He's over there looking lonely."

Cain followed the Queen's gaze to where Jeb stood, eying everything contemptuously. _I know how you feel, kid_, Cain thought, but realized the Queen was looking at him, expecting him to speak. He cleared his throat.

"Yeah. Jeb hates these things, and a familiar face might make things better."

DG smiled obligingly at him. "Whatever you want, Cain," she said, and the admission made Cain uneasy. He didn't like the idea that DG would do whatever he wanted, whatever anyone wanted, even if it was just a saying.

He watched her wander over to Jeb and hold out her hand. Jeb stared at it in confusion, and for a moment Cain thought he might refuse. But he took DG's hand and lead her on his arm to the middle of the dance floor and began a slow, simple waltz.

Watching them made Cain inexplicably cringe.

"Cain no like dancing," Raw said.

"Cain doesn't have to dance if he doesn't want to," Glitch replied, misinterpreting. Cain shot a warning look at Raw, who shrunk back a bit.

"I am going to get some fresh air," he announced, and slunk through the people speaking around the dancers. Once outside the great hall, he knew nothing short of an attack of Papay would get him back in there. Papay with rabies.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Here's the third chapter, guys! I hope you like it okay. Let me know things I can change, improve, or things that I should continue doing. Thanks for all the reviews so far! It's really appreciated.  


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Chapter Three

_Where were you a week ago__  
When we gathered in the courtyard?  
__Where were you when we sang  
And our song shook the ground?  
Where were you a week ago  
When the church bells started swinging?  
Where were you when they rang  
And angels came down?_

The next morning, DG came to find him in the stables, where he had bullied two stable boys into letting him work. The servants in the palace were so finicky about letting the exalted Captain Cain do an honest day's work. They forgot – or perhaps had never known – that he had once just been Mr. Wyatt Cain, a former Tin Man turned farmer, who had lost what they had in the war. That he wasn't a hero, really, just a man, a kindred spirit. Or at least, he would have been if they'd let him.

DG, Glitch, and Raw were going through the same thing, he knew. Regular people who were being treated like they were gods. They were his only real kindred spirits now.

He mucked out the stall of a beautiful bay horse while the two terrified stable boys steered clear of him. He concentrated on the movement of the pitchfork and ignored their stares in the same way he ignored the pangs of the past. What he wouldn't give to go back to being regular...

"Cain? What are you doing?"

He spun around. DG had snuck up on him and perched herself on the stall door which swung haphazardly away from him. She _would_ choose the most precarious part of the stall to sit on. Cain wiped the sweat from his brow unceremoniously. He was pleased to see her back in her regular clothes. She was somehow much more royal when she was just being herself than when she was playing princess. "Making tea," he said. "What's it look like, kid? I'm working."

"Oh." That was all. Just oh. She didn't need to be told why. "I didn't see you at the ceremony after I went dancing. I looked. You were gone."

Had he hurt her by leaving? Cain couldn't tell by looking at her, which meant he probably hadn't. Her eyes were so expressive when she was upset she tended to look like she was on the verge of tears, no matter how small the slight.

"It was stuffy in there," he said and returned to mucking out the stalls. She sat behind him, swinging her legs and humming contentedly, and even in the silence, it was the first time since he'd been back at the palace that he hadn't felt almost completely alone.

"Besides," he said, finally, "you didn't look like you needed me there, what with Jeb on your arm."

He wondered if he succeeded in making it sound like a tease, instead of an accusation, which is what it tasted like on his tongue.

DG laughed. "Jeb's a nice guy. Saved me from having to hobnob with a bunch of politicos. Definitely not my scene."

"One of his better purposes."

"He wouldn't let anyone he didn't like near me," she chuckled. "None of the guys – er, _gentlemen_ – our age anyway. He's very protective, but fun to be around. I didn't feel like I was missing out."

Cain just nodded. Ordinarily, he would love to hear someone singing his son's praises. He was proud of his boy, the way any father would be. A girl would be crazy not to fawn over Jeb, in his opinion, but hearing it from DG was disconcerting somehow. _Don't fall into your mother's plot, DG, unless you really want to_.

"He reminds me of you," she whispered and a pang of something stabbed through Cain's heart. His head snapped to look at her, but she stared decidedly at her shoes. "Except he's... I don't know. Fiercer. I mean, you're pretty fierce, but..." She laughed. "It's almost like he was protecting me because he thought it was the only thing he could do, not because he wanted to. Like a wildcat backed into a corner. It didn't bother me too much at the time, but the more I think about it..."

Cain didn't know what to say to that. Jeb had always done what he was supposed to. If this stupid plan was going to take place, Cain didn't want that to be the reason he married DG.

"Perhaps you need to spend more time with him," he found himself saying. "He's a little rough around the edges, but..."

"He's invited me to the orchard tonight," she said. "And I just wanted you to know, Cain, that I like him. I really do. I'm not just stringing him along, like some girls do. I don't want this to... ruin things between us."

Cain set his jaw. Why would she feel the need to clarify something like that to him? He hadn't even thought she might be stringing Jeb along. That wasn't DG. "Nothing could ruin things between us. Nothing that makes you happy, anyway."

She smiled her usual childlike smile and jumped down from her perch to throw her arms around him, as she was prone to do. He had the urge to kiss the top of her head, to hug tighter, to not let her go to Jeb. But he let go, and did his best to smile at her before she ran out of the stables to do God only knew what. Get into trouble, probably.

Was it a trouble Jeb could handle, if she were his? Was it a trouble Jeb could understand? Was it a trouble Jeb could love, the way Cain loved Adora's brooding and dirty nails?

And he knew in that moment, in his very heart, that Jeb was not right for DG. That they would not be happy together. That it simply wasn't right. But what could he do? If they got it in their heads that this was the way it was supposed to be, what was Cain to do about it?

He _hated_ feeling helpless. It was how he'd felt when he was trapped inside that horrible tin box, watching his wife, his son, beaten, over and over again. It was the way he felt every time he thought about what he was going to do now. Helpless. Powerless. Worthless.

He took his fury out on the stall, scraping and whacking with a rage that sent the stable boys into hiding. And when he was finished with that stall, he took on the next one, and the next, until the thirty-horse stable was cleaned from top to bottom, until it was cleaned raw. And yet, he couldn't forget these feelings.

He wandered out into the sun, which was close to setting now. He'd been at it since morning, and had missed a whole day. That just meant it was one day closer to... to what? The future? What future?

He wandered around the grounds of the palace, and servants, judging the look on his face, were smart enough to leave him be. He wandered, looking for things to do, but was distracted and never found any. Instead what he found was Raw and Azkadellia, talking under the shade of a large tree.

"Captain," said Azkadellia curtly.

"Princess."

"Cain upset," Raw explained to the princess, who gave him a look that said she didn't need to be a psychic to see that.

"I'm fine," Cain snapped. "Just... bloody... fine."

Azkadellia hesitantly motioned for him to sit beside her on the ground. "Captain, please. If anyone knows what's worrying you, I do. DG told me about Jeb."

"Did she?" Cain eyed the ground tiresomely before very slowly lowering himself beside her. "And what did she tell you?"

"That she liked Jeb quite a bit," Azkadellia admitted. "She kept saying it, over and over, in a way that made me think... but maybe it's just wishful thinking..."

"Finish your sentences," Cain ordered absentmindedly, forgetting that he was speaking to royalty. He said things like that to DG often, but that was different. It was easier for him to see royalty in Azkadellia than DG. Even with the Witch gone, Azkadellia had an aura of power about her. It was gentler now, more concealed, but that potency hadn't left her.

Azkadellia glared at him, obviously unused to being spoken to thusly. "It seemed to me," she continued harshly, "that she was saying it largely to convince herself of its truth. But as I said before, that may be merely wishful thinking on my part."

"Raw sees DG's confusion," said the wolf-man. "But Raw also sees happiness. Excitement. The unknown."

Damn this Viewer and his mystical bullshit. What did any of that even mean? Why couldn't he just say what DG was thinking? Or better yet, how all this was going to play out?

If he wasn't so uncertain, Cain might be able to get used to this. That was all he wanted. Wasn't it?

"I just hope this whole... _plot_... goes very, very slowly," said Azkadellia distastefully. "I cannot believe Mother."

"Why not?" Cain spat, unsure as to where all this hostility came from. "You're both well passed old enough to be married."

He didn't believe the words even as he said them. Azkadellia – now she was old enough to be married, but DG... DG was just a girl.

The way he kept repeating that to himself, a part of his brain realized, was a bit like the way Azkadellia said DG repeated that she liked Jeb. Almost like he was trying to convince himself...

"And anyway," he said, scowling, "she's probably looking just as hard for a match for you."

Azkadellia looked down at her hands. It was the first time he'd seen her look anything but haughty in a long time. She was almost... ashamed. "No," she whispered. "She's not. She's given up on that. She hasn't said as much, but I know she has. No nobleman would want damaged goods, after all."

Her words stung him, but she lifted herself off the ground with a grace that showed no trace of her sister's childlike awkwardness, or of her recently revealed shame. She eyed Cain in the same proud manner she always had and said, "But my marriage is none of your concern. I would like you to concentrate on DG, on making her happy. And that is an order, Captain. If you see her getting into something that will make her less than happy, you will intervene. Is that understood?"

Cain rose up beside her, matching her pride with his own and clearing her height by a good five inches. "I wouldn't do any less. Order or not."

The princess eyed him with a strange, calculating look and then nodded, turned, and walked briskly across the grounds back to the castle, Raw trailing after her looking, somehow, pleased with himself. Cain watched them smile at each other like they knew a secret he didn't.

_Damn wolf-man_.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

_I wished for things that I don't need,  
And what I chased won't set me free,  
And I get scared but I'm not crawlin' on my knees._

_Everything's all wrong,  
Everything's all wrong,  
Where the hell did I think I was?_

Cain was called the next morning to the Queen's throne room, where she, the King, and Glitch were waiting for him, hopefully to give him his next assignment. He convinced himself he wanted to leave for the usual reason, because working was better than thinking, and not because he wanted to get Jeb and DG away from each other.

"Your Highness," Cain said, with a low bow. He would never get used to all these court intricacies, no matter how many times he went through the motions. "King Ahamo. Ambrose."

"Captain," said the Queen said, bowing her head slightly in return. "I understand that you're as eager to be on your way as ever."

"Yes, Highness." Was it that obvious that he didn't want to be here? He wondered how that made Glitch feel, or Raw, or DG.

"However, considering... certain circumstances," the Queen continued, "I'm beginning to think it might be proper for you and your men to reside here for some time. You all deserve a nice rest, and my daughter certainly would be thrilled. I hope."

Cain couldn't bring himself to share the Queen's conspiratorial smile. "With all due respect, Highness," he began, "there is a lot of work yet to be done. And nothing here that needs to be... rushed."

He wasn't as adept at being subtle as others, but he could tell she got the point.

"Certainly, Captain," she said, drawing herself up impressively. "But there might be nothing _to_ rush if we sever the cords preemptively."

Sever the cords? Did she think he'd never be in touch with DG? That they'd never see him again? That he could possibly stay away from the three people who made him feel at all... normal?

"Perhaps," Glitch interrupted, "I could offer a solution, Highness."

The Queen turned to him expectantly, and Glitch smiled happily at her for a while. Finally the Queen said, "Do go on, Ambrose."

"Oh! Yes! Right. Let's see." He thought for a moment. "The trouble here is that a certain party wants to leave, and a certain other party wants a certain third party and a certain fourth party not to be apart when the certain first party leaves the certain second party. Am I correct?"

"I haven't any idea, Ambrose," the Queen admitted, but Glitch was distracted.

"Well, I believe the only solution would be to have the certain fourth party to accompany the certain first and certain third parties so as not to be apart from those parties."

He grinned happily at all of them and Cain finally said, "Glitch. What in Ozma's name are you talking about?"

"If we're allowed to quit all the ambiguous nonsense, I could explain," said King Ahamo. Cain had always liked him. "He thinks that DG should go with you on your next mission. Isn't that right, Ambrose?"

"Precisely!" Glitch said excitedly, and then glared at Cain as if he should have known what he was talking about.

"I must admit I don't like the idea of being away from my daughter for so long..." the Queen began.

"My darling, it _is_ a good solution. There is certainly a lot of work to be done to the West, where the Witch's reign was most strong. DG might even appreciate seeing more of the country she's supposed to rule." King Ahamo touched his wife's hand gently and she was swayed.

"All right. But Captain, if you would be so kind as to wait a week before setting out, so that I might say good-bye to my daughter properly?"

"Of course, Highness," Cain said lightheartedly. For this compromise, anything. Spending a month traveling with both DG and his son, while working and never standing still... Cain couldn't imagine something better for his mental health. He shot Glitch and appreciative smile, which Glitch returned with an innocent one. As usual, Glitch had forgotten what was happening.

"All of you look very happy, whoever you are," he said. Cain just shook his head.

"If it's all right, Your Highness," he said, "I'd like to go tell DG."

"As you wish, Captain. You're dismissed."

Cain bowed again and removed himself from the throne room. He couldn't help but smile as he made his way through the castle to DG's private garden, where she whiled away her free hours sketching. If she wasn't there, she soon would be, whenever she got a free moment. He would wait. For some reason, it didn't seem so bad to wait now.

But he didn't have to. DG was sitting under a willow tree by her favorite pond, staring straight up at the sky through the leaves of the tree, her sketch pad and charcoal still and flat on her stomach. She heard him approach and didn't need to be told who it was.

"You're leaving then?" she said.

"Actually, we're waiting around here for a while," Cain replied, standing above her, but not where she could see. "A week."

She sat up on her elbows, eyes bright and shining with excitement. "Really?" she asked. "But you never wait."

Was she excited for his presence in the palace, or for Jeb's? Cain shook his head, ridding himself of those thoughts. "Your mother wanted a chance to say good-bye."

"To you?" DG scrunched her nose. Cain smiled.

"Hardly. To you."

"What? Me? Where am I going?" DG set her sketches on the ground and pulled herself up, dusting off her pants. "Mother wouldn't usually let me out of her sight if she had a choice."

"Glitch convinced her it would be a good idea for you to see the country," Cain explained, carefully omitting certain other details of the conversation that had just been had. "If you'd like to come along, that is."

"Hmm... let's see... A month traveling with my favorite Tin Man, or being stuck in this palace for the rest of my life..." She put a finger to her lips and crinkled her brow in mock pensiveness. "What a toughie."

Cain smiled at her. "It's good to hear you say that."

She smiled at him and slowly allowed her arms to wrap around his waist and bury her face in his chest. Her hugs always managed to surprise him, even though by now he should have been expecting them. Perhaps it was the time he'd spent in that tin box that made him unused to human contact. Perhaps it was because no matter how familiar DG was, she didn't have the same feel as Adora's arms, the same smell as Adora's hair, the same weight as Adora's presence. It was pleasant, but strange, to have anyone besides his wife touch him. He hesitated a moment before putting his arms around her shoulders.

She grinned up at him, another unfamiliarity. Adora never grinned that way, like he was the light of her world. She showed him in other ways, but never by grinning like a child. Adora had always been too stoic for that kind of exuberance.

He pulled away, tired of the inadvertent comparisons between this young, vivacious girl, and his sturdy, loving wife. Why, if DG was so different from Adora, did she never fail to remind him of her?

"Question," DG said, suddenly. "My being invited along... it doesn't have anything to do with a certain son of yours, does it?"

Cain raised an eyebrow, unsure now of what to say. "That you would have to ask your mother. I was just told my orders."

"Right." DG put a hand on her hip that distinctly said she didn't buy that for a second.

"Does it matter if that's the reason?" Cain teased, but really, he was serious. Would that make her more or less likely to go?

"Why is everyone fishing for my opinion on Jeb?" DG demanded. "He's nice, okay? I like him. I had a good time with him last night, and at the ceremony, but I don't even _know_ him."

"Perhaps this is a good chance to get to know him." Why, in Ozma's kingdom, was he pushing this so hard when it made him so goddamned uncomfortable?

"But I'm not going for him!" she cracked, looking close to tears. "Would you even want me to be there if it weren't for him? Would you even have wanted me to go?"

All these months and never once had Cain asked his friend to join him. He'd never asked Glitch or Raw, either, but only now that there was some secret plot had it even crossed his mind. How manipulated she must feel. How useless.

"I've always wanted you to go," he said. "But your place was here. Mine was with my son."

This only seemed to help a little, as she slouched and bit her lip uncertainly. "I guess so..." She looked at her sketchpad lying on the ground. "It's just been so lonely here."

"You have Glitch," Cain pointed out. "And your sister. Your mother and father."

"Glitch, I'll give you," DG said, "but he's always busy. And I love my family, don't get me wrong, but... they're in many ways still strangers. Fifteen years without them, and most of the ones we had, I barely remember. And Az... Az has enough trouble trying to figure out who she is. How am I supposed to know how to act or what to say?"

"You always know what to say," Cain said softly.

"I _never_ know what to say," DG corrected. "I just say it anyway."

Cain grinned at her. "Everything will make sense soon, kid," he assured her, so well that he almost believed it himself.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

_I never let you turn around, your back on each other.__  
That's a good idea, break a promise to your mother.  
Turn around, your back on each other._

_And all our friends are gone and gone,  
And all the time moves on and on,  
And all I know is, it's wrong, it's wrong.  
And all I know is, it's wrong..._

_That girl is like a sunburn, I would like to say,  
She's like a sunburn._

"If you think you can just take my sister away without a fight from me, you're an imbecile." Cain looked up from where he was polishing his gun. He thought he'd been safe in his quarters, but Azkadellia had found him, dragging Raw, who had become quite taken with the princess since his return to the palace, and an extremely startled Glitch in with her.

"I take it you told her," said Cain to Glitch, and returned to his work, unaffected.

"I gave you an order!"

"To keep her happy," Cain pointed out. "This makes her happy."

"But they're _manipulating_ her! You all are, just to get her to be with that... that _boy_!"

Glitch and Raw winced as Cain glared at the princess sharply. "_That boy_ is my son, and the leader of the resistance army that saved your royal backside, and you'll do well to remember that, Princess," he reprimanded. She stepped back, startled by his hostility, as if she thought he wouldn't defend his son. "And DG is coming with me. It's been decided, and it's what she wants, and I'm sorry if you don't like it."

"Then I'm going, too."

Glitch and Cain widened their eyes in surprise. Only Raw seemed to be expecting it – even Azkadellia blinked in uncertainty at her own words. "B-but, Princess," stammered Glitch, "it's a dangerous journey into a _very_ dangerous area. Your mother won't like – "

"_Damn_ what my mother likes!" cried Azkadellia. She placed a hand over her mouth, shocked. "I... I'm sorry. I didn't mean..."

"Princess wants her sister," Raw explained for her. "Princess doesn't care about the danger."

Azkadellia nodded slowly, jutting out her jaw. "Not to mention that I, too, deserve to know more about my country. I've been trapped in a prison for too long, Captain Cain. I deserve to know my countrymen."

_Trapped in a prison_. Cain could relate to that. If someone had decided they were taking Jeb away from him, so soon after getting him back, he would have fought it tooth and nail.

_But they _have_ threatened to take him away from you,_ said a small voice in his head. _And what have you done about it?_

"Tell your mother and father that if it's all right with them, I'd be glad to have you," said Cain.

"And Raw must come too," Azkadellia said, defiantly. Raw looked pleased at this. They really must have gotten closer.

"Whatever you wish, Princess," Cain said, not without a hint of sarcasm. This girl may not be evil anymore, but she certainly pushed her luck.

Her cocked eyebrow and haughty smile said, _You're damn right, Captain_, and she turned to leave. Glitch watched her leave with a shake of his zippered head.

"Strange girl. Acts like she's royalty or something," he said to Cain. Cain almost laughed. "It will be lonely here, you know, without all of you."

"Maybe you should come, too," Cain said, sarcastically. "With all of you and the Longcoat resisters, it'll be a goddamn reunion."

Glitch brightened at that. "Yes! Why, Cain, that's a wonderful idea!"

"What? Glitch, I was- I was kidding!"

"I'll go inform the Queen of your decision. What a lovely opportunity. I've been in need of some adventure! Thank you, Cain!" And the head-case ran off ignoring Cain's sputtering protests.

He was stuck in a palace filled with stark-raving mad people. He needed to get outside.

He holstered his pistol and made his way through the echoing marble corridors of the palace to the Servants' Entrance, which lead him almost directly to the stable yard. He heard the loud smack of wood being hit together, closely followed by his son's voice shouting orders. "Forward! I want to see good blocks! Don't fall back! More force!"

As Cain came upon the scene, Jeb was speaking into a specific soldier's ear – a man ten years his senior named Rand. Jeb took the stick Rand was sparring with and slowly worked through the motions of the exercise for Rand and his partner, who was only about five years younger than Cain himself. The men watched Jeb, twenty-two-years old, teach them without any distaste. Jeb had their trust and their respect. Cain admired him for that.

"Try it again," Jeb ordered, "and watch your stance, Phil."

"Yes, sir!" the soldiers said and began to spar again. Jeb fell back to watch the rest of the groups together.

"Running through some drills?" Cain asked rhetorically as he came up by his son's shoulder.

"Need to be ready. The West is still dangerous, according to the reports sent back by the other Captains."

"You never rest, do you?" asked Cain, perfectly aware of how hypocritical he was in saying such a thing.

"There'll be time to rest when all the Longcoats are gone," Jeb said, stubbornly.

"There will always be threats on the kingdom, Jeb," Cain reminded him.

"I'll be prepared for them, too, then."

"And what about yourself?" Cain turned to face his son, who stubbornly averted his gaze by watching his men. "Is this the life you want, Jeb? Running after bad guys?"

"It was your life, too, Father." There was more harshness in his voice than he meant, Cain knew, but it stung none-the-less. Jeb sighed and finally turned his head to look his father in the eye. "And yes, it's what I want. I don't want another son to lose his parents unnecessarily again. Not when I can help it."

"Right now I'm more worried about a father losing his son." Cain didn't know if he was talking about the imminent battles his son would face, or something else.

Jeb smiled sardonically to himself. "You're not going to lose me, Father. Especially because you're always by my side."

"The way it should be," Cain replied stubbornly, putting a paternal arm around his son's shoulders. They were so broad now, the shoulders of a man. "Exactly the way it should be."

"I've heard tell that Princess Dorothy is going to be joining us." Jeb carefully kept his voice blank, or at least Cain couldn't read anything from it.

"And a few others it seems," Cain admitted, gruffly. "Princess Azkadellia doesn't like the idea of leaving her sister, and with DG there's always a few other tagalongs."

"Raw and the Advisor, then?" Jeb asked. He sighed. "I just hope the four of them can keep out of trouble."

_They won't_, Cain thought, and smiled to himself. It was a certainty in which Jeb would never really find comfort, but which, even as Cain worried, made it all the more worthwhile to have them along.

"Excellent parry, Gilliam! Now, Hillel, fight him off!" Cain quietly slipped away, leaving his son to his training, pleased with the conversation. Jeb wasn't preoccupied with DG, which was a good sign, and more than that, he was a strong leader. He'd demonstrated that time and time again, but it always caught Cain off guard to see his son behaving as more than just a child playing soldier.

Strange the way the world had changed now, and was still changing. Stranger, even, was the way Jeb didn't really need him anymore. Adora, Cain knew, would have needed him, but she was gone now. The only trouble was, now Cain didn't know where he was without her.

"Cain!" called DG from atop the ridge of a hill as she ran toward him, joy plastered clearly on her face even from the long distance. He waited patiently for the hug that was sure to accost him – and sure enough, DG slammed into him with such force that he almost fell over. He clutched her so she wouldn't fall and laughed with her as they righted themselves.

"Glitch and Raw and Az are coming," she announced to him. "Glitch said that you came up with the idea."

"Something like that."

DG grabbed his hand and gazed at him in that manner she had, like he was the most brilliant person she'd ever seen. Jeb had looked at him like that, when he was younger. Cain supposed all children looked at their fathers that way for a time.

"Thanks, Cain," she said, sincerely. "I mean it. I needed this. I think we all did."

He half smiled at her and allowed her to hang on his arm as they walked back towards the palace. Perhaps she was right. Perhaps this is just what he needed.

* * *

A/n: Sorry for the delay guys! I'll try to keep up with this more. I haven't lost interest, I promise!


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

_And I feel so much depends on the weather,  
So is it raining in your bedroom?  
And I see that these are the eyes of disarray.  
Would you even care?_

_And I feel it.  
And she feels it._

_Where ya going to tomorrow?  
Where ya going with that mask I found?  
And I feel, and I feel,  
When the dogs begin to smell her,  
Will she smell alone?_

A week later, they rode out at dawn, toward Vynky Country, specifically to the kingdom of the Baer People, where the Witch had her tightest hold. They would be met by two other battalions of soldiers, who had been working to rebuild the landscape for the past six months. According to reports, Vynky Country was no more than a desert now.

The inhabitants of the palace gathered to see them off. Cain would have liked to leave in secret, as he was in the habit of doing, but the Queen wouldn't hear of it. And he wouldn't have asked her to. He knew what it meant to want to hold on to your daughters until the last minute.

The princesses hugged their parents tight and spoke with them softly in a whisper as the men readied their horses and prepared for the journey. Cain did not interfere with their conversations, and merely loaded his own pack onto his horse in silence.

Finally, the Queen called for him as the sun first shed its light over the horizon. DG and Azkadellia had gone to find their horses with their father, and Cain found himself more or less alone with Queen Lavender.

"Captain Cain, my daughter trusts you with her life," she informed him. "I hope that I can do the same, with both my daughters."

"I'll do everything I can to bring both your daughters back safely," Cain promised. The Queen nodded, surveying the preparations of the soldiers before her. Her eyes fell on Jeb, who had found DG and Azkadellia and was helping them saddle their horses.

"I trust it will be so, Captain. I trust it will be so."

Cain excused himself and circled around the soldiers until he found Raw and Glitch. Glitch was telling, as usual, a story.

"... and then the horse stood up on its hind legs and threw me off! Got quite a bump on my head from that."

"So you'd be exactly like this even if your brain had never been taken out," Cain said. Raw did what Raw's equivalent of smiling was – it came out a bit like a snarl, but Cain knew what he meant.

"I should have you know, _Captain_," said Glitch, pompously, "that I... have absolutely no idea."

Cain rolled his eyes. "If you're all ready to go, meet me up front. You'll be riding with the princesses and I, serving as their security."

"Raw ready now." The Viewer snarl-smiled again. "Raw come now?"

"Don't leave me! I'll never find you in all this mess." Glitch worked quickly to finish his preparations and the three of them made their way through the mess of soldiers to the front of the line, leading the two horses with them. The princesses, Jeb, and King Ahamo were waiting for them, tearfully saying more good-byes.

"I must get back to your mother," King Ahamo said as Cain approached. He kissed his daughters once on the head and embraced both of them tightly. "Stay safe, my angels."

"You, too, Daddy," DG said as Cain walked up behind her. King Ahamo met his gaze with a nod, that Cain returned. DG turned to smile at him. Azkadellia reached for her sister's hand.

When King Ahamo left, the six of them mounted their horses, signaling to the soldiers to do the same. Jeb, from atop his speckled stallion, shouted, "Soldiers! At the ready!"

The soldiers swiftly turned their horses to the Queen and King. Queen Lavender bowed her head respectfully at all of them.

"About face!" Jeb yelled, and Cain found himself complying without thought, turning his horse around efficiently. "And! Forward!"

Together they rode off into the countryside, an army at their backs. Cain looked around at his companions. Glitch and DG were staring in wide-eyed wonder at the trees around them. Raw seemed to be concentrating on his own devices, mulling about in emotions as usual. Only Jeb and Princess Azkadellia seemed to realize the kind of power they held behind them, or that they were going into any danger at all.

"I love this warm Harvest Month weather!" Glitch announced. "Don't you, doll?"

DG giggled and nodded. "It's beautiful here. Beautiful."

Jeb watched the girl in a way that told Cain he didn't realize he was doing it. Was Jeb amazed by DG's innocence and liveliness? Or did he find them tiresome and unfitting for a princess? Cain couldn't tell by his face what was in his heart, but he was used to that.

They rode for a week straight, and Cain was impressed that neither princess made the slightest bit of complaint. He hadn't expected DG to, of course, it wasn't like her, but Azkadellia's endurance was a surprise. She was reserved, and spent most of her time with either Raw or her sister, steered clear of the men, and distanced herself from most people, but she was never once rude or unpleasant to anybody and she took any difficulty in stride. Cain supposed that was what she'd been like all along, and he just hadn't noticed. There was strength inside that girl that he simply hadn't seen.

He didn't see as much of DG as he hoped, but she didn't spend all her time with Jeb, either, as he had secretly feared she would. She was instead, when not beside her sister, with the common soldiers, hearing their stories and collecting their histories. She had started it by asking Rand if he would sit for her while she sketched him the first time they made camp. Rand agreed, and from then on, every night, DG was surrounded by men, listening to their accounts of the war and before. Cain often found himself listening to their conversations, learning things about his own men that he had never before known.

He could tell from the looks on their faces that they adored DG, that they would do anything to protect her. And yet, she didn't lead them. She didn't order them. She wasn't their leader, as much as they loved her. DG didn't really know how to lead, just to be followed.

They were just across the border of Vynky Country one night when Cain was awakened by a rustling outside his tent in the middle of the night. He heard voices outside, familiar voices that he identified as his son's and Azkadellia's.

"Princess?" called Jeb softly. "What are you doing awake?"

"I could ask you the same thing, Lieutenant," the princess replied, stiffly.

"I'm on watch," Jeb countered. "And I'm afraid I know the schedule, so you can't use that as an excuse."

"I am not used to sleeping on the ground," Azkadellia told him hesitantly.

Jeb laughed a bit. "You'll get used to it after a bit of practice. You'll find you're not used to a real bed anymore."

Cain could see Azkadellia's face in his mind, haughty and distant. She had been colder to Jeb than anyone else, including Cain himself, on their ride, and it didn't take Glitch to figure out why. She and Jeb were silent outside for a long while, until finally Jeb awkwardly offered to escort her back to her tent.

"No," said the princess sharply. "I like the night time. It's relaxing."

"I wouldn't think..." Jeb stopped himself short.

"No, Lieutenant Cain," said Azkadellia. "Do tell."

"Father explained to me what had happened to you," Jeb began slowly. "Being trapped in your own body. After all that, I wouldn't think you'd like the dark."

The silence between them after that statement was a heavy one. It hung from the night like a lit chandelier, swinging precariously above their heads.

"You'd be surprised, Lieutenant," said the princess slowly, "how easy it is to find comfort in the night time having been stuck in the dark for so long. The night isn't complete darkness, even though that's a part of it. It's nice to see that... that you can overcome that part of yourself and become something beautiful instead."

"I can respect that," said Jeb thoughtfully. "I certainly understand the sentiment."

"Do you," Azkadellia replied, and to Cain's amazement she sounded almost amused. He wasn't the only one surprised by it, because when Azkadellia spoke again, she was unable to mask her agitation, despite her return to her brusque manner. "On that note, Lieutenant, I must return to my tent. It's getting late."

"If it suits you, Your Highness."

Cain heard two soft footsteps and then a pause. "Lieutenant," Azkadellia said tensely, "I sincerely hope you are as honorable as you seem to be."

With that, the princess left him standing in the night. Cain slowly worked his way out of his coverings and tied on his boots before exiting his tent. He found his son standing around the back, gazing pensively at the gibbous moon.

"A lot of people can't sleep tonight," Jeb remarked, not removing his eyes from the sky.

"Oh?" Cain was terrible at feigning innocence.

Jeb raised an eyebrow at him. "Don't pretend you didn't hear that. You're not that sound a sleeper."

Cain grimaced guiltily. "I didn't intend to eavesdrop."

"If I'd been expecting privacy, I'd have been a fool." Jeb's mouth hardened. "There's none of that in an army camp."

Cain knew that well, but he had never intended Jeb to know it. His son deserved better than this life, where he was valued less as a person than a chess piece, where he was wanted only as long as he was useful. It had been a good life for the Tin Man, but Cain had only ever wanted to be useful. Jeb was worth more than that.

"Women don't make any sense," Jeb informed his father, having moved on from other conversations. "Especially those princesses. It's like all women see something that isn't there, or at least that I can't see, and make allusions to it as if I know what's going on. It's..."

"Damned confusing," Cain finished, silently pleased by his son's obliviousness. "When I was courting your mother, she would spend days hiding from me. Her friends would call me over and say things like, 'Adora wants you to know that she's asking about you,' and 'Adora speaks of nothing but you,' and all I wanted was for Adora to tell me these things herself. We were young then, much younger than you, but I don't think it gets any easier as they get older."

"Mother was that sort of person," Jeb said slowly. It was the first conversation he and his son had had about Adora since her passing, Cain realized, and therefore it was completely uncharted territory. Had Jeb wanted someone to talk to before now? Had Cain without really knowing it? "She never really said what was on her mind, but you always knew when something was wrong."

"Because she stopped talking to you," Cain said with a chuckle that caught in his throat halfway out. It was still so hard to think of her as gone, when she had been so unchanging throughout the years. He could read her like a book, only now the book was gone.

Jeb nodded. "It was just her way."

"Yes," Cain agreed absently. "Just her way."

The two stood in silence. Cain made his mind blank, and didn't dare wonder what his son was thinking. His own thoughts were dangerous enough, and they were thoughts that, at least on some level, were always familiar. His son's... well, sometimes Jeb was a stranger to him.

Did all parents find that out about their children at some point, or was it the years of separation that made it that way? It was probably both, Cain decided. Things were often both.


End file.
